Agartala, Nov 16: Information and Culture Minister Sushant Chowdhury on Wednesday said that the first film institute under the aegis of Satyajit Roy Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) will be launched this month.
While addressing a programme organized on the occasion of National Press Day in Agartala, Chowdhury said, “The first film institute will start functioning in the next 8-10 days. Currently it will be operated from Nazrul Kalakshetra. About 100 applications were received. Candidates from Uttar Pradesh and even Bangladesh are inquiring about the courses, however, the government has decided that only students from Tripura will get admission”.
He highlighted various government initiatives taken for the welfare of the media workers of the state, during the programme.
Interacting with the media workers on the National Press Day, the minister also underlined that a plan to increase the advertisement rates issued by the ICA to the media is in pipeline.
He mentioned the Health Insurance scheme for the media persons and said, the accredited media persons would get coverage of Rs 3 lakh and 80 per cent of the premium would be spent by the government while the concerned media person would contribute the remaining 20 per cent.
In this connection the Minister mentioned, as only accredited media persons would get the benefit, the ICA department decided to increase the number of accredited media persons in the State aiming to extend the benefit to a maximum number of media men.
“After the BJP government came into power, the pension of the journalists increased from Rs 1000 to Rs 10,000. Moreover, the family pension scheme was also enrolled by the incumbent government”, Chowdhury pointed out.
The ICA Minister appreciated the role of the media in a democratic society – however, he made a clarion statement that no one should dictate the government the terms.
